“In 2006, Tom was in a really different place than he was on 1985. “Any performer can sing a song earlier in their career and they can sing it later in their career and it’s got a whole different meaning,” says Ulyate. A rare live rendition of “Southern Accents” from a 2006 show in Gainesville, Florida was included on 2007’s The Live Anthology, but the track’s supreme quality made it onto the new box set. Most songs on the set come from the studio, though some of the best moments are concert recordings. It’s just another perspective on the song.” The version of it on the set has a completely different vibe than the vibe on the record. “On one of them I found a live drum part that felt like it was a live pass by the Heartbreakers, and so I added it on. “We wanted to see if there was a better version of it and so I dumped every take – I think there was about 39 – into Pro Tools,” says Ulyate. The album version utilizes a drum machine that sounds very dated today. One of the more interesting songs on the set is “Rebels,” a Southern Accents tune that the group cut so many different ways that Petty eventually punched a wall in frustration and severely broke his left hand. The vocal on this one is little less studied and more spontaneous. For some reason we decided, ‘No, we can do it better’ and we cut another track. “And it’s great! We have overdubs on it and we put on guitars and harmonies. “I think it’s the take before the actual take we used for the record,” says Campbell. Other tracks, like an alternative take on “Louisiana Rain” from the Damn The Torpedoes sessions, required far less work. ![]() “I’d say, ‘Should we use this or not? Tom, what do you think?’ Yes? No?’ That became my barometer.” “I just pretended he was sitting next to me,” he says. When in doubt, Campbell tried to imagine what Petty himself would have included. They were also looking to tell the story of Petty’s career, though big hits like “American Girl,” “Free Fallin'” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” that have been covered extensively on past releases were skipped in favor of lesser-known songs. Let’s remix this and see if we can make it sound right.’ We were looking for gems that were overlooked.” “We were like, ‘Is there anything in the vault that no one has heard before?’ Then we’d listen to a song and I’d go, ‘Hmmm, now I know why!’ But then we’d hear others and be like, ‘Oh, this is interesting. ![]() “We went back and listened to everything,” says Campbell. Once the initial shock of his sudden death subsided, his wife Dana, daughter Adria, producer Ryan Ulyate and bandmates Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench began poring through the material to create the upcoming four-CD box set An American Treasure, which arrives in stores on September 28th. Much of it came from concerts, but there were also tons of demos, alternative versions of album tracks and even tunes he discarded completely over the years that have never been released. When Tom Petty died in October 2017, he left behind a vault overflowing with hundreds of hours of unheard music.
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